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Ok, through various reasons (mostly time related, but a few PC issues included), this thread hasn't had too many updates.

Chadman has spent some time in the last couple of days putting some of the Combine results down for each position, so if you go back to the relevant post for Combine Stats to look for by position, you will see some numbers from the 2013 Combine that might be a guide to what the Steelers are thinking. Also, the FA lists have been updated to include players that have been cut. Chadman might re-post those soon to bring them forward as Free Agency nears...

A few thoughts on who Chadman thinks might be considerations for the Steelers on Draft weekend:

QB: It seems that many feel it is 'time' for the Steelers to add a young QB, and to be honest- it's not a bad idea. Since Tomlin & Colbert have joined forces, most of the QB's the Steelers have looked at have been athletic, running type QB's (Dennis Dixon, Pat White, Jerrod Johnson, Troy Smith). There is little reason to think that won't be the case again. It seems unlikely that the Steelers would draft a QB early. That said, Combine reports have the Steelers interviewing Geno Smith (Athletic QB, will go in the 1st)...

So, with that said, here are a few names Chadman thinks might be on the Steelers radar-
Zac Dysert Miami (OH)- Round 4-5- (Gerry Dulac has said he's a possibility, plays for Ben's old college)

RB:
The Steelers will need a RB at some point this offseason, be it through the Draft or FA. The Combine produced probably more questions than answers, but there does seem to be a number of guys that could help, if not become 'the guy'. Some of the better options, post Combine for Chadman are...

Eddie Lacy- Alabama- Round 1-2- At 5'11" 231lbs, this guy is built to be a truck type RB. Not a flashy type of player, but seems a solid pounder. Chadman's question is still if he presents good 'value' to the Steelers, as his game is not that far different to what Redman & Dwyer bring to the table. No Combine numbers as he didn't work out. Pro Day could be interesting.

Giovanni Bernard- North Carolina- Round 1-2- 5'8" 202lbs makes him more the Jamaal Charles type RB, something Chadman suspects the Steelers might be looking to add to Haley's offense. While he didn't excel at the Combine, he hit 3 of Chadman's "Steeler History Combine Guidelines" in the 40 yard (4.55), Broad Jump (10' 2") & 20 yard shuttle (4.12). He's fast enough (would prefer a little faster) & shifty enough. He also has a history of being a decent pass catcher- he could help immediately in 3rd down situations.

Christine Michael- Texas A&M- Round 3-4- 5'10" 220lbs, he's the perfect build to be an NFL RB. He tested VERY well at the Combine hitting several key Steelers requirements- 40 Yard (4.54), Bench Press (27 reps), Vertical Jump (43"), Broad Jump (10'5") & 20 Yard Shuttle (4.02). In all seriousness, he should top the available choices for the Steelers. But there are concerns about character, and he apparently slept through 2 interviews. Will the Steelers take a chance??

LeVeon Bell- Michigan St- Round 3-4- 6'1" 230lbs, he's a good build. Has been getting some love on the board for the last week. However, he only hit on 2 Steeler Selection Criteria- Bench Press (24 reps) & 20 Yard Shuttle (4.24). A bit like Lacy, Chadman is not sure if he offers good 'value' to the Steelers, as his game does not differ much from Dwyer or Redman.

Kenjon Barner- Oregon- Round 3-5- 5'9" 196lbs, he's one of the smaller RB's, but reasonably solid in build. Like Christine Michael, Barner hit on ALL Steeler Selection Criteria- 40 Yard (4.52), Bench Press (20 reps), Vertical Jump (35.5"), Broad Jump (10'2") & 20 Yard Shuttle (4.20). Plenty of comparisons to a guy the Steelers looked at last season (and a former team mate of Barner) in LaMichael James. Could help immediately on 3rd Down & in the return game.

Zac Stacy- Vanderbilt- Round 5-6- 5'8" 216lbs. Short, but stocky. Pretty powerful for a guy his height & plays with good leverage. Great Combine hitting on 4 of the key Steeler Criteria- 40 Yard (4.55), Bench Press (27 reps), Broad Jump (10'2") & 20 Yard Shuttle (4.17). Looks like a good compliment type RB, and great value late in the draft. Not a bad catcher of the ball.

Knile Davis- Arkansas- Round 5-7- 5'11" 227lbs. WOW, what a Combine! He went from a nowhere type pick to potentially much higher than he really should be picked. Passed 2 Steeler criteria very well- 40 Yard (4.37) & Bench Press (31 Reps). If his Pro Day goes anything like the Combine, he could move into the middle rounds. Not convinced his a mid-round RB, however.

Mike Ford- LSU- Round 6-7- 5'10" 210lbs. Much like Davis, but without the fanfare, Ford had a great Combine. Not much career production to work with (Willie Parker, anyone?), but his Combine Numbers make interesting reading- 40 yard (4.50), Bench Press (25 Reps), Vertical Jump (38.5"), Broad Jump (10'10") & 20 Yard Shuttle (4.25). Like Michael & Barner, he hit on all 5 criteria.... could he be a late round, or UDFA flier?

While no RB really stood out in the Combine, there was plenty to work with. Pro Days are SUPER important for guys like Lacy, Andre Ellington, Joseph Randle, Montee Ball & Jonathan Franklin as all these guys could be 2-3rd round types. It will be interesting to see who the Steelers send to Oregon, North Carolina, LSU & Vanderbilt...

WR:
Most of us believe that the Steelers will need a WR added to the roster at some point. Losing Wallace promotes Manny Sanders to a starting position, but leaves depth a little thin with Cotchery possibly a cap victim, and a whole bunch of untested guys behind that. Steelers have already talked to Steve Breaston about joining, and his fate might be seasled one way or the other by which direction the Steelers go in the draft (that is, if he doesn't sign somewhere in FA). Thankfully, it's a good year to draft a WR..

Cordarelle Patterson- Tennessee- Round 1- 6'2" 216lbs, he's the prototype #1 WR. Plenty to like about him, and could be a good fit at #17. Not only that, he hit on 3 of the Steeler Selection Criteria- 40 Yard (4.42), Vertical Jump (37") & Broad Jump (10'8"). He's a sublime athlete. Will he be available at #17 though??

Tavon Austin- West Virginia- Round 1- 5'9" 174lbs. His size might be a concern for some teams, but the Steelers have not shied away from selecting smaller WR's in the past. Our own #1 is only 5'10", so Austin's size should not stand against him too much. What might go against him, however, is that he only hit on 2 Steeler Selection Criteria- 40 Yard (4.34) & 20 Yard Shuttle (4.01). His lack of Vertical & Broad jump success could scratch him, as the Steelers have shown a fondness for 'explosive' WR's in the past, not specifically 'fast' ones.

Keenan Allen- California- Round 1- 6'2" 206lbs. It might be a case of 'out of sight, out of mind' with Allen right now. He's dropped from #1 to a Round 1-2 rating. This is the exact sort of player the Steelers make a habit of grabbing- quality players that fall for no good reason- DeCastro, Mendenhall, Heath Miller for example. If he's available at #17....

Robert Woods- USC- Round 1-2- 6'0" 201lbs. The Steelers have shown some interest in Woods, who has the right credentials as far as level of competition, age & production go. Is he a #17 option? Doubt it. And he might be gone by the time the Steelers select in the 2nd.

DeAndre Hopkins- Clemson- Round 1-2- 6'1" 214lbs. Hopkins is starting to gain momentum as the draft closes, and while his Combine numbers were ok, he actually only hit 1 Steeler Selection Criteria in Vertical Jump (36"). He's right on the cusp in nearly every test though, so don't discount him, particularly if he's available in Round 2.

Da'Rick Rogers- Tennessee Tech- Round 2-3- 6'3" 217lbs. Looked great at the Combine. Chadman gets the sneaky suspicion this is the best WR in the draft. Tested VERY well, hitting 4 of 5 Steeler Selection Criteria- Vertical (39.5"), Broad (11'00"), 20 Yard Shuttle (4.06) & 3 Cone (6.71). That said, his character concerns might rule him out of contention.

Ryan Swope- Texas A&M- Round 3- 6'0" 205lbs. Combine Warrior who really raised his value in the drills. Hit on 4 of 5 Steeler Selection Criteria- 40 Yard (4.34), Vertical (37"), Broad (10'5") & 3 Cone (6.76). Calling him a Workout Warrior is probably unfair, as his career record is pretty solid, but there is no doubt he moved up a couple of rounds based on numbers. Not convinced..

Marquise Goodwin- Texas- Round 3- 5'9" 183lbs. Everyone knew he'd test well, and he did. His college career record is what will hold him back- not enough production to warrant a 3rd round pick. Surprisingly did no agility drills, but he hit the Selection Criteria on 2- 40 Yard (4.27), Broad (11'00"). No doubting he's an athlete, but with no real career record behind him, Chadman suspects the Steelers might look elsewhere.

Stedman Bailey- West Virginia- Round 3-4- 5'10" 193lbs. Bailey is a similar build to Antonio Brown, and has reasonably similar Combine figures as Brown too. Like Brown, Bailey missed on the speed & explosion drills as far as meeting Steeler Selection Criteria, but came into his own in the agility drills- 20 Yard Shuttle (4.09) & 3 Cone (6.81). If the Steelers are looking for another player like Brown, then Bailey could be their guy. Chadman suspects they will look elsewhere.

Tavarres King- Georgia- Round 3-4- 6'0" 189lbs. King looked very smooth & fluid in his drills, catching everything. This follows on from a good performance at the Senior Bowl. King hit on 3 of the Steeler Selection Criteria- 40 Yard (4.47), Vertical (36.5") & Broad (10'3") which shows speed & explosion. He missed on the agility drills however. Nothing stands out about King- he's not overlly big, not overlly fast or explosive, so he won't 'wow' people, but he looks a good concelation prize if teams miss the big guns early.

Kenny Stills- Oklahoma- Round 4- 6'1" 194lbs. Stills certainly opened eyes with his speed, but after that his other drill work was not overly exciting. He fit 2 Steeler Selection Criteria- 40 Yard (4.3 & Broad Jump- (10'4"). If the Steelers are waiting until Round 4 onwards to select a WR, they could do worse than Stills.

Mark Harrison- Rutgers- Round 7- 6'3" 231lbs. If the Steelers are not sold on Goard, Harrison might fit the bill better. His agility drills fell short, but for speed & explosion, he tested very well- 40 Yard (4.46), Vertical (38.5") & Broad (10'9"). He could be a genuine downfield threat with great size, if coached well. Looked pretty good in his drills.

TE is a hard one to guage, as the Steelers just don't have much history under Tomlin/Colbert in drafting them. Given that the Steelers Offense is becoming more passing based of late, Chadman would expect some pass catching types will be targetted. Some of the potential Steeler targets could be:

Tyler Eifert- Notre Dame- Round 1-2- Eifert fared much better at the Combine than the #2 prospect Ertz in all drills except Bench. He's a tall, quick TE, but not convinced he's a #17 pick.

Vance McDonald- Rice- Round 2- Rice did very well in a number of the Combine test, proving to be quick & strong. He did not appear to test very well in agility however. Level of competition may be an issue.

While the Steelers have drafted a number of OLinemen during the Tomlin/Colbert era, getting a good guide on any specific preferences is tough because in 2013 the team will be trying to introduce the ZBS which will require different skill sets. That said, it's not impossible to see a few trends that might help, and knowing that both Lane Johnson & Jonathan Cooper were interviewed, we can probably get an idea of the type of player that might be interesting to the team.

At OT, given that we know the Steelers took a look at Johnson, we can see he is 6'6" 303lbs. Last year's OT Mike Adams is 6'7" 323lbs, Marcus Gilbert is 6'6" 330lbs. Even back further, Tony Hills was 6'5" 309lbs. Let's just figure that the Steelers view OT's as needing to be above 6'5" or close enough to that. The ZBS requires lighter OLinemen, so we might look at guys closer to the 310lbs than 340lbs. Johnson had a 34" vertical jump. Adams & Beachum both jumped 28.5" & Gilbert jumped 30.5". Safe to say a good vertical counts. Bench press, however, not so much. Both Adams & Beachum didn't even crack 20 reps.

OG is perhaps even harder to pick, as the Steelers Combine numbers are all over the place. Knowing that Cooper was interviewed, other OG's of similar stature & statistics that might fit include Alvin Bailey, Jeff Baca, Eric Herman &, of course, Chance Warmack.

Wow! It sure looks like TS will have a hard time missing in any rd on a WR. The group sure seems loaded.

I did not see Terrance Williams in there. I only mention this because early on he was one of the highly regarded players. I don't really know the reasons for it, but he has been slipping somewhat the past 3-4 weeks. Not a real good senior bowl seemed to start the slide. Oh well! Plenty of WR's to choose from.

It is hard to pick a favorite from that group. And I have only one comment.
There have been several favorable posts on DaRick Rogers the past couple weeks. He also was one of the winners in that Bleacher Report thread last week.

However, I took a look at some of the comments being made by fans on the article and one said that Rogers definitely has come on lately and has improved his stock a lot , but he can't catch.---- Now I don't know if there is any truth in that but I do think that it is a factor that can't be overlooked in the rating of WR's.

I remember a pass Santonio Holmes caught in one of his first pre-season games. Big Ben rifled a pass low and away about a foot or so off the ground and Holmes reached out, bent down and caught the thing. Unreal I thought. That was impossible! I really miss that guy. Oh well! Maybe TS will find another one. Hands!

Moving on to the 'other' side of the Line of scrimmage, we'll take a peak at the Defense.

NT:
This draft class offers quite a decent selection of NT candidates- and most of them seem like early draft picks. If the Steelers were unsatisfied with their NT options, it is very safe to say they should find a good option at #17 in the 2013 Draft.

Star Lotulelei- Utah- Top 10- At 6'3" 311lbs it is safe to say he's an ideal size for the position. He might be about as close to Haloti Ngata we've seen come out of the Draft recently. Obviously there was the heart scare during the Combine. If he checks out to be healthy, then there is every chance he could go #1 overall. If there are concerns, however, due to the depth of the position he might suffer a bit of a Draft fall. Don't laugh- look what happened with DeCastro, and we all thought he'd be long gone. No Combine workouts make it impossible to grade him

Johnathan Hankins- Ohio St- Round 1- 6'3" 320lbs. Again, about as perfect a 3-4 NT speciman as you can find. Had a good Combine in regards to what the Steelers look for. Hankins didn't do any lifting, so watching at his Pro Day might give an indication if he fits the Steelers criteria (30+ reps), Vertical jump (26") was the same as last year's selection Ta'amu, Broad Jump (8'8") beats any number put up by Steeler NT's of recent years, 20 Yard Shuttle (4.61) was remarkably quick for a guy his size, displaying good 'area quickness' & the 3 Cone (7.59) is similar to what Ta'amu put up. Described as a perfect 0 Technique, 2 Gap type player- essentially the role Hampton has played for the Steelers. Do not discount him as an option.

Jesse Williams- Alabama- Round 1- 6'3" 323lbs. Starting to see a pattern in the body shapes here. Williams only performed 1 Combine Drill (Bench- 30 reps), but passed that one. His Pro Day might answer a few questions, and no doubt the Steelers will converge on Alabama like hungry vultures. Like Hankins, don't discount him at #17.

John Jenkins- Georgia- Round 1-2- 6'4" 346lbs. One big boy. Like Williams, Jenkins only performed the Bench Drill (30 reps). His Pro Day will answer questions of how he fits athletically. Depending on how teams view him, he might be the 2nd NT taken, possibly in & around #17. Not as likely as Williams or Hankins, but not out of the question either.

Brandon Williams- Missouri Southern- Round 2- 6'1" 335lbs. Another big guy expected to go early. Put up the most Bench reps (3 of all the NT's. Add to that a 29.5" Vertical & Williams passes 2 Steeler Criteria. That said, he was a fair bit slower than Hankins in the agility drills, which might indicate inadequate short area speed.

Sylvester Williams- North Carolina- Round 3- 6'3" 313lbs. Another with perfect size. That said, he fell 'just short' on every Steeler criteria, proving to be an inferior athlete to, say, Hankins. In Round 3, though, might be great value.

Akeem Spence- Illinois- Round 3-4- 6'1" 307lbs. A little smaller than the others, but the right height. That said, he passed 2 Steelers criteria while having a pretty good Combine. Bench (37 reps), Vertical (30") & Broad Jump (8'11") were very good results. If the Steelers feel they need depth..